And he admits he is excited by the change in his normal venue – from fronting Leppard in cavernous Arenas housing thousands of people, to playing small, dark clubs with room for just a few hundred with his Down’n’Outz.

“It’s very different, but good,” he says.

“I’m hoping Leppard are destined to stay playing in Arenas for the rest of its life, it’s what we love doing, but at the same time, it’s not the Limit Club in Sheffield or the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and there is something very cool about these places.”

Down’n’Outz features Joe, drummer Phil Martini, and a trio of members from The Quireboys – guitarists Paul Geurin and Guy Griffin and keyboard player Keith Weir.

They formed five years ago when 1970s rock band Mott The Hoople reformed and asked Joe, a long-time friend and fan, to get involved.

Joe says: “The truth is, Mott The Hoople were my boyhood band. I don’t know what it was, but there was something I liked, the atmosphere, the images, the songs.

“I was fully into their first four records before All the Young Dudes. There was something about Mott The Hoople – they were my band.

“As much as I loved The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Mott were something a bit different.”

The Down’n’Outz concentrate on covering bands and artists related to Mott the Hoople including Mott, British Lions and Ian Hunter.